Structural characterisation and Numerical Modelling of Historic Quincha Walls

Quincha is a construction technique found in upper stories of many historic residential buildings on the coast of Peru, consisting of a timber frame with a woven cane and mud infill. This article presents the methodology for the development of a numerical model of the quincha system. The quincha walls have been subdivided into three components, the timber frame, bracing, and infill, and the modeling of each component is calibrated separately using experimental and analytical techniques. The resulting numerical model is found to successfully reproduce the behaviour of test specimens. The developed model can be used to assess the global seismic behavior of historic buildings containing quincha of varying geometries. This is demonstrated by modeling a portion of one of the facades of a well-known casona in Lima, Hotel el Comercio.